Entrance Exams: Old News?
Many of you may already know that because of Proposition 209 which outlaws affirmative action programs in California, California Universities no longer require the S.A.T.
The SAT and other entrance exams are found to discriminate against the poor and minorities because economically disadvantaged groups for example, cannot afford expensive prep classes and therefore have a considerable disadvantage in doing well on the exam. Well, now the same thing may happen with other Entrance Exams like the LSAT and MCAT. It's all pending on the Supreme Court decision in the Michigan case which comes this June. Ever since quota systems were abolished in the early Affirmative Action case; Bakke v. University of California, Universities have turned to using a "plus factor" to help admit more minorities. The Law School of Michigan assigned a total of around 200 points for applicants; 20 of those 200 depended on race. So as you would expect, a white student is now suing at the Supreme Court for reverse discrimination. This is huge! The Supreme Court wouldn't take the case if it weren't going to ammend something. So, the bottomline here is this: If the Supreme Court outlaws the "plus factor" criteria Universities are using to admit minority groups, chances are Universities will not require entrance exams any longer. Because they are biased and put minorities at an even greater disadvantage. Universities will consider G.P.A and extracurricular rather than scores on entrance exams. This is a really important event. I learned about this from by Business Law Professor which says the decision can go either way. What do you guys think?